(i) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to spools for receiving wire, cord, string and the like stranded materials bound thereon and, more particularly, relates to a spool assembled from three moulded plastic components.
(ii) Description of the Related Art
Conventional spools and reels for drawing or winding cordage such as wire, cord, string, cable and the like stranded materials onto the spool or reel are fabricated from wood, metal and plastic materials. The spools must be able to transfer cordage onto the barrel between the end flanges of the spools during winding of the cordage onto the spool and must have sufficient strength to not only support the load of the cordage but also to avoid failure of the flanges when transporting and loading and unloading loaded spools.
Plastic spools have become preferred over wood or metal spools because plastic material typically is less expensive than metal or wood material and the plastic spools can be molded from polyolefin polymers which are environmentally friendly in that the plastic materials are thermoplastic and usually can be recycled.
A disadvantage of plastic spools, however, resides in the difficulty of assembling the plastic end flanges to the ends of the plastic barrels. Unless molded integrally with the barrel, or glued to the barrel, the flanges are not fastened to the barrel and are prone to slip circumferentially with respect to the barrel. Each flange has a central arbour hole for receiving a shaft through the hollow barrel for rotating the spool during loading and unloading of cordage by winding of the spool by engagement with drive holes formed in the flanges. Slippage of the flanges on the barrel impedes winding of cordage on the spools during loading.
It is a principal object of the invention therefore to provide a spool assembly having the flanges locked or keyed onto the barrel to prevent circumferential slippage of the flanges on the barrel.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a simple and inexpensive plastic spool assembly which, can be readily manufactured, transported in a compact knock down form and assembled when required for use.